A high energy x-ray and neutron scattering study of iron phosphate glassescontaining uranium

The atomic structure of iron phosphate glasses containing uranium has been studied by complementary neutron and x-ray scattering techniques. By combin ing x-ray and neutron structure factors, detailed information about differe nt pair interactions has been obtained. Most of the basic structural featur es such as coordination numbers and O-O and P-O distances in uranium contai ning glasses are the same as those in the base glass of batch composition 4 0Fe(2)O(3)-60P(2)O(5) (mol %). However, the Fe-O distances change slightly with the addition of uranium. The observed structural parameters support a structural model in which the waste elements occupy voids in the Fe-O-P net work, hence, not altering the basic structure of the parent iron phosphate glass. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)02605-0].